


Blast Radius

by misura



Category: Switch (Manga)
Genre: Betrayal, Gen, Non-Chronological
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-27
Updated: 2012-11-27
Packaged: 2017-11-19 17:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/575569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The impact of two explosions, one lollipop and a partnership.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blast Radius

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sententiae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sententiae/gifts).



> as Narita might say: man oh man. 
> 
> this treat is, essentially, my way of getting out some of the feelings the ending of the manga left me with, mostly about Shiba. or Shiba and Takei, really, because as Shiba _has_ said: he goes where his partner goes.
> 
> it is not an angst fest, not because I don't see the potential for that, but because in the end, I didn't feel up to post-canon fall-out fic, so instead, you get what's mostly semi-cute partners fic before it all _really_ went to hell by way of flashbacks.
> 
> there is a small portion of dialogue in italics - this bit is literally copy-and-pasted from the manga (volume 5).

"I'm not doing this because I like you people or anything," he says. "I'm doing this because I'm tired of working my ass off for a bunch of idiots who almost got my partner killed."

"Of course."

His fingers are itching for a cigarette.

 

"Was it something I did?" Takei asks, not so very much later.

Shiba doesn't really need to be here. His injuries aren't that serious, not like Takei's, when he -

"What did I miss? Tell me, Shiba."

"Hey," Shiba says. "Take it easy, all right? Who said this was your fault?"

"I don't know, it seems kind of wrong to beat up someone who's already in a hospital bed." Takei sighs.

Shiba feels a twinge of something he refuses to call 'guilt', mostly because it would be pointless: too little, too late.

"I mean, Tsuyuki - well, he was kind of a snake, anyway," Takei says.

"Not always." Shiba's only human; it was hard sometimes to think fondly of the guy who always brought home the biggest busts, the best tips, the last piece of evidence they needed to get a warrant.

Takei seemed to manage it more often than the rest of them.

"I brought you some stuff to read. No cigarettes."

"Well, those aren't really for reading anyway, are they?"

 

It's their sixth joint operation: four weeks of stake-outs and take-out and several all-nighters that seemed necessary at the time.

Takei is not a morning person, but his bedhair is a sight to behold, and so Shiba figures that, really, the whole thing is worth it. They're good together, and they're probably going to get better.

Especially if they can manage to steer clear of the police next time.

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. And hey, at least we got lollipops."

It is not impossible Shiba has thought about Takei's mouth at one point during the past month.

"A pair of suckers for a pair of suckers."

Takei laughs. "He's a nice guy, really. And these are pretty good."

Shiba will take a cigarette over a lollipop any day of the week. "You can have mine."

"Thanks." Takei grins.

 

("Man, oh man. I guess maybe those were a little too good, huh? Not that it's any concern of mine, but I do believe that room you used for the stake-out is still available. Thought I'd mention it for the sake of public decency," Narita tells them, looking sheepish and only slightly embarrassed, like he's used to this sort of thing.)

("If you'd only stayed out of our case," Shiba says, because bickering with a detective is much preferable to looking at Takei right now.)

("Sorry, no can do. Just doing my job, same as you.")

 

There's something terrible about finding out your partner doesn't look out of place in a high school uniform, Shiba thinks. Worse than finding out what your partner is able to do given a lollipop, a wicked streak and a detective who's busted the same dealer they'd been after for a month. That, he can write off as a joke.

"Not bad, eh?"

This, this is much more serious. "You're making me feel like a dirty old man."

"Would you like me to sit in your lap? I could snap a picture."

"Just be careful, all right? They may be kids, but that doesn't mean they're harmless."

"I'm always careful."

"Famous last words."

"All right. I'll be reckless, daring and imprudent. Better?"

"Much."

 

Takei's apartment is small, warm and messy. Shiba is permitted inside for the price of a bag of groceries.

"It probably looks worse than it feels." Takei's cleaned up and smiling. He's not limping and his hands don't tremble in the slightest.

Shiba wonders if he should trust his guts - if he's allowed to believe these are symptoms of someone who's trying too hard to pretend he's okay, instead of someone who quite simply doesn't need him because he _is_.

"The way I hear it, if it hadn't been for some rookie investigator leaning on the perv science teacher, you'd be dead right now."

"Ah. I got lucky."

Lucky. What a hopelessly inadequate word. "How about I cook you something nice? To celebrate."

"Did you get any booze?" Takei is already rummaging through the bag. "We could make it a movie night. That is, unless you had other plans?"

"A date with the hottest hottie in all of Yokohama. I'll ditch her for you, though. It's a special occasion, after all."

 

The hottest hottie in Yokohama turns out to be working as an analyst at the NCD, hopelessly smitten with one Kai Eto, who looks like too much of a nice guy to deserve someone chasing after him with a 'handbook of doom'.

 

 _"He's Ryugen,"_ Takei says. _"No question about it."_

_"Who's he handing off to?"_

_"They're not here yet."_

Shiba can handle stake-outs. This kind of waiting, though - it's not his favorite thing. He's maybe half a minute away from Takei; better than if he'd been back at the main office, but still not close enough to actually be able to have Takei's back if anything goes wrong.

 _"You okay?"_ Takei's voice, but slightly distant - not reading Shiba's mind, then. Not that he doesn't come damn close, on occasion.

 

The sound of the explosion is deafening.

Inaudible.

"Takei!"

 

"After this, it's very likely you will be approached by the Ryugen."

"You think I'd - " He could be sitting with Takei at the hospital right now, or trying to track down the bastards who put him there. This conversation, this _warning_ (half-warning, half-threat) is a colossal waste of his time.

" 'If only the NCD had planned this operation a bit better, Takei wouldn't have gotten hurt.' Haven't you thought that, even once? 'If only they had made sure that briefcase really contained drugs, he wouldn't be in the hospital right now'. Be honest. Only an idiot wouldn't blame me for what happened."

 _That'd be Kajiyama, then,_ Shiba thinks. He feels light-headed and a little bit cold. "No. I - "

"If you respond positively to their overtures, it could be very useful to us."

Oh. _Oh._ Not a warning, then. An offer. A chance. "I ... see."

"Don't worry about your boss; I'm sure he and I can come to some sort of arrangement. Assuming, of course, that you're interested ... ?"

"Yeah," Shiba says. His mouth is very dry. "Yeah."

His fingers are itching for a cigarette.


End file.
